What is the best Zinc supplement I should take?

Ok so you’ve read online about the benefits of zinc supplementing (which we are going to discuss another time) and you’ve decided to get yourself some zinc. Now don’t be like myself and buy the first bottle you see on the shelves with the letters Z-I-N-C okay?

Not every zinc supplement is created equal and before spending any money and jamming a couple pills down your throat, be sure you are ready to make an educated guess. Also check out some natural foods containing zinc.

Here are the most common forms of zinc supplements :

Pills

Powder

Lozenges

Nasal sprays

Nasal gels

The most common way (and practical) to take zinc is by the form of supplement pills. You could get creative and use the powder form to make your own pills or mix it with other supplements but we won’t get into that for now. That other alternatives have their uses as well but as far as nutrition and bodybuilding are concerned we can stick to pills.

But here is the question we’re trying to address here :

What is the best chemical form of zinc supplement?

Zinc supplements come in different chemical forms :

Zinc acetate

Zinc sulfate

Zinc picolinate

Zinc glycerate

Zinc monomethionine

Zinc gluconate

Zinc oxide

The reason for these chemical formulas is because zinc alone is not easily absorbed by our bodies. To optimize absorption it is chelated to amino acids like zinc picolinate or made in inorganic form such as zinc sulfate or zinc oxide.

Why is zinc picolinate the best form?

Because it has the highest absorption rate of all. Meaning that for every gram that you take you get the maximum amount digested and absorbed staight to your blood, cells and so on. Even better, picolinate is ot THAT much more expensive than other forms so it’s a win-win. Read the study reported in PubMed here. Also read what’s the proper dosage of Zn?

” But hey can’t I just take MORE zinc sulfate for example, to compensate for the lower absorption rate?”

No. For the simple reason that while being cheaper and easier to find, zinc sulfate can cause unwanted side-effects such as stomach upset. Don’t be cheap on this one, it’s just not worth it. Make sure to read : how your body leaks zinc.